Polish branch committee member (former chairman) brought into court!

[Jack Ryan]

The following are real events that happened just recently, even though it may sound like sci-fi. Sorry for bad English, I'm not a native speaker :).
TL;DR: Paweł Bugajski, a member of polish branch committee was questioned before court in a civil case regarding shunning practices. It didn't turn out well for him. Read on for the full story.
The case is still ongoing so I can't say much, but get this: there is this brave polish woman, Danuta Kubik (her blog in Polish), who suffered a lot from the organization, because of elders who disfellowshipped her for "brazen conduct" (i.e. not obeying her husband, an alcoholic and wife batterer, and going with her problems to legal authorities) some 20 years ago. Since then people she cared about turned back on her which caused her much stress, especially that she truly believed in God and that the organization (JW) is his tool. After putting herself together and battling depression for years she fought for her rights and good name, first by writing numerous letters to the polish branch and then by going to courts (because of how the elders, one of them especially, treated her badly and coerced others against her). Because the polish justice system leaves much to wish for, this took some time. In the meantime, polish branch did something pretty unprecedented – they've agreed that some mistakes were made and that they're reverting the decision to disfellowship her. The following announcement was made in the congregation: "Danuta Kubik has never stopped being Jehovah's Witness". The damage was done though, so Danuta still sought justice. She just wanted a public apology from the elder who insisted on DF'ing her. But the response was: "we don't do public apologies in the organization".
Some of the letters she received from the branch were signed by the chairman of the branch committee, Paweł Adam Bugajski. So when Danuta continued to seek justice in court, she picked him to testify and the court agreed that his deposition could be relevant. Fast forward to last Wednesday, a court hearing was held in Legnica, Silesia, Poland where Bugajski did indeed arrive, with a lawyer of course. He started testifying but his lawyer was objecting nearly every question on non-relevance basis, and the judge upheld the objections. He was evading questions and basically doing the same thing Jackson did in Australia. Suddenly one person from the audience stood up and went to the exit. Before she left, she cried out loud saying that she can't bear to hear this anymore. I'll quote her post on our forums after the fact:

Quote

My name is Kate and I was present on Danuta's hearing. I don't know how it happened that I spoke up, I basically exploded on the court room. I don't regret it, even if I had to pay a fine [for disrupting the hearing]... My emotions were boiling inside me.... I remembered my judicial committee... fear... fear... fear..., and here I have this man, Bugajski, lying, lying and lying... I knew how disfellowshipping worked from my own experience. Unwritten laws on how others have to treat you. Suddenly I felt that I cannot bear this no more. I did burst into tears... stood up and approached the exit. And then I said: "I'm sorry, but I cannot stand to hear this anymore. I was a JW for 23 years. I was DF'd one and a half years ago. FOR ASKING QUESTIONS. Not for being sinful! Disfellowshipping caused so much stress for my daughter that she wanted to commit suicide. Similarly my husband. Now nobody from my family will speak to me. I don't have any contact with them. This organization ostracizes people and there's no law against them... I'm sorry, but I just cannot bear to hear more of these lies. And then I left.

It's extraordinary, but the judge heard the whole thing and didn't fine that brave woman. What's more, he started to be more careful during the hearing, was asking questions himself and overruled all objections from Bugajski's lawyer. He caught him on evading or straight–up lies three times!
The whole hearing took nearly two and a half hours (which is also unheard of, usually these things are a lot shorter). Bugajski entered the court proud and arrogant, but left it sweating and generally beaten up. Because of his long deposition the hearing was adjourned for another time, but we feel that we won this battle. The judge saw through him and noticed that there's something terribly wrong with this organization.
But that's not all! After the hearing Bugajski and the defendant approached Danuta and asked if they can speak with them. Two of our fellow brothers who helped her through the case approached them immediately asked what they want. Reluctantly, they've said that they would want to set up a meeting with her to talk. She said that it's ok for her, as soon as those guys and her lawyer will be listening. Their reply: "Oh, no, you know the procedures, we cannot allow to have other people when we're talking to you". Can you imagine their arrogance! They just got a kick in the butt in the courtroom and here they are, trying to coerce her to another private conversation where they would try to wash her brain again with no witnesses. Of course, she refused that offer. And because two other people saw that scene, they will definitely use that in the future hearing.
Overall I'm extremely happy about how this went and I'm positive that this could set a nice precedent for these kind of cases in Poland. Wish us luck on next hearings!

- OHmyJW

[Γιαννης Διαμαντιδης]

GOOD LUCK FROM GREECE
and shame on you hypocrites JWORG

you want 2 witnesses for your selves but not for the others 
Shame on YOU

[Queen Esther]

???????

[Anna]

Those who no longer want to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses are free to leave, any time. They will not, and never have been shunned. Jehovah's Witnesses who practice sin, and are not repentant, or those who deliberately and maliciously disrupt the peace of the congregation will be disfellowshipped and as such will be shunned by the members of the congregation. Disfellowshipping does not have to be a permanent status.Those who show a repentant attitude and "works" of repentance will be welcomed back. The fact that this lady had been disfellowshipped for 20 years, from what I understand, means she never sought reistatement during those 20 years (!) I ask myself why?? "especially that she truly believed in God and that the organization (JW) is his tool".